Advance alerts raised before Ceuta crossing
Usagevpn.com – Spanish intelligence and police warned authorities about a possible irregular entry into Ceuta on 30 July, according to documents declassified by the Prime Minister’s Office. The alerts, issued a day earlier, referred to online activity encouraging people to reach the Spanish autonomous city by sea and through the border fence during Morocco’s Throne Day celebrations.
The records have fuelled a dispute within Spain’s government over whether officials had sufficient notice before the events in Ceuta. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said the National Intelligence Centre, or CNI, did not effectively anticipate the scale of the crisis, while Defence Minister Margarita Robles has maintained that the Government Delegation in Ceuta received a warning in advance.
The declassified material supports the view that alerts were circulated, although it does not settle whether authorities expected a crossing involving a large number of people.
Online activity prompted an urgent intelligence alert
An urgent CNI note dated 29 July said WhatsApp groups were organising an attempt to enter Ceuta the following day. It also stated that Morocco’s intelligence services, the DGST and DGED, had been informed about the activity detected online.
Spanish intelligence and police warned of calls for crossings by sea and fence, with the documents indicating that concerns had been shared with Moroccan intelligence at least 24 hours before the expected date. That detail has become important amid political debate over Morocco’s role and the handling of the warnings.
Speaking on Mañaneros 360, Sánchez said the intelligence service had not successfully foreseen the crisis in Ceuta. He repeated the position of Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who has said that the Interior Ministry did not receive a formal warning of a potential mass crossing.
Grande-Marlaska has consistently argued that no official communication reached him about a large-scale attempt to cross the border. Sánchez and Robles have differed over how the available information should be interpreted.
Border officials assessed swimming-entry risk as high
A separate alert from the National Centre for Immigration and Borders, known as CENIF, assessed the likelihood of irregular entry by swimming as “high”. Distributed to border posts in Ceuta and Melilla on 29 July, it referred to possible entries on 30 July 2026.
This Centre (…) has obtained information about a potential risk of irregular entries into the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, forecast for 30 July 2026.
The CENIF warning did not state that crossings were certain. It noted that online messages and social-media discussions do not always lead to action, but said similar activity had materialised on previous occasions.
It cannot be guaranteed that this will happen, but when this type of activity has been detected on social media and other forums, on some occasions it has ended up materialising.
The centre classified the risk of entries through the land fences and by sea as medium. It assessed the possibility of organisers combining both routes as medium-low, reflecting the different operational challenges that each type of crossing can create.
Ceuta and Melilla are Spain’s autonomous cities on the North African coast. Their land borders with Morocco have made them central to discussions about migration, border management and relations between Madrid and Rabat.
Messages showed contact with the Ceuta delegation
Further WhatsApp exchanges released with the intelligence note show contact between the CNI, state security bodies and the Government Delegation in Ceuta. The delegation represents Spain’s central government in the autonomous city and is separate from Ceuta’s presidency.
In one exchange at 13:52 on 29 July, a CNI official told the delegation that social-media calls were urging people to try crossings by sea and fence the following evening. The message referred to two groups with a combined 180,000 followers.
CNI: On social media, there is a call to storm the fence and the sea tomorrow at 20:00, taking advantage of Throne Day, when their security forces will be busy. There are two different groups with a total of 180,000 followers, just so you get an idea of how far this is spreading.
The records also note an 11-minute telephone call between the delegation and the intelligence contact at 21:34. Spanish intelligence and police warned through these channels, but the released documents leave unresolved whether the information was treated as a warning of an imminent mass crossing.
FAQ: What do the documents show?
Did Spanish authorities receive an alert before the possible crossings? Yes. The CNI and CENIF documents were dated 29 July and referred to a potential risk of irregular entries into Ceuta and Melilla on 30 July.
What routes were mentioned in the warnings? The alerts referred to potential attempts by swimming, through the border fence and by sea. The assessment varied depending on the route involved.
Why is the warning politically significant? The documents are central to a disagreement over whether Spain’s government had advance notice and whether the warnings indicated the scale of the events that later unfolded in Ceuta.
